Fasting is something we have in common with the previous nation, but why do we fast, is also the same, why they fasted was to get Taqwa, why we fast is also to get Taqwaa, I want to talk to you practically what does that mean?
Taqwa is you know the people translate that as a fear of Allah, Taqwa comes from the word Wiqaya, and Wiqaya actually means “Protection”, Taqwa is similar to “Ittiqaa” to seek protection, to try to protect yourself, that’s why on Judgment day everybody will try to protect themselves.
Allah says: Allah gave you fasting so you can protect yourself. what does that mean? let’s try to understand. We human beings have certain training, you have to go through training, if you want to get good at something especially physical training like if somebody, if they want to become a soldier or they want to become a police officer, and they have to go through certain kinds of training and their body learns to adapt like at the beginning, it’s hard and then it gets easier and easier and easier for them.
This idea of training or putting yourself in difficulty it helps you, by the way when you’re in training things are easy when you’re in the training program things are easy, for example when they train firemen they set up a fire to put it out, but they control the fire. it’s not like a real fire in a building it’s controlled so it’s easier, they make you jump down a building, but it’s easier it’s not like the real thing, they go easy on you and then when you get good enough, then they put you in the real-life situation, you understand that right now. The same thing happens with fasting, you’re constantly feeling something, aren’t you? Especially in Qatar, you’re constantly feeling thirst, you’re constantly feeling hunger, there is not a minute that goes by that you’re not feeling it. Your throat is fighting with you your lungs are fighting with you your throat is yelling at you, it says give me water, whether you like it or not your throat is begging you and you tell your throat; shut up throat, it’s not Maghrib yet, your stomach starts talking to you sometimes very loudly; ‘man come on what’s going on up there where’s the supply’ and you’re like it’s Fajr dude. You have a conversation with yourself, but you know what? there’s a war going on inside you when you’re fasting, there’s a war physical war going on inside you, your throat is against you your stomach is against you your body is getting weaker and begging you, please disobey Allah, please this will be a lot and you stay the entire day fasting, fighting your body and you say no my heart is submitted to Allah and therefore I don’t care if my entire body wants something, I will not give it to it. that’s what I do when I fast.
Why is that important? because when the fasting is over, you have to continue to train your heart and your heart is ready to control your body, so you’re not just going to eat what you want, you’re not just going to go where you want, you’re not just going to look at what you want, because all of those things your body wants, and when you fast the body got weaker and who got stronger? the heart got stronger, and whereas Taqwa rests, as Quran says: the heart is with a place of taqwa. if we don’t remember this then we become just like Bani Israel, they fasted but they didn’t have taqwa.
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Islam Makes Sense
If you don’t understand something in the religion then ask people who know more. And when they give you an answer and you’re not satisfied with their answer, you tell them I am not satisfied with your answer. I need a better understanding, You have the not only the right to ask, you have the responsibility to ask. You have the responsibility to ask When the ummah stops thinking. And when the ummah stops passing down the legacy of thinking, then the worst thing happens to the ummah, then the next generation is Muslim only because their parents were Muslim. That is the worst thing that can happen to the ummah Because then, the only reason that a child should hold on to Islam is, because his parents were expecting it, You know we’re living in a day and age where families are very separated And children live a very independent life from their parents. Now they go to college. They go to university. They get a job They have their own life, isn’t that the case? And when they have their own life you’ll notice the vast majority of whether you’re Buddhist or Hindu or Christian or Jewish or Muslim, It doesn’t matter, you’ll see most cases the parents are religious and the children are what? They’re not religious. And they say, “Well, when I used to live with my parents, they used to take me to church every week” “My father used to take me to Jumuah every week, but now I don’t live with my dad. I’m in college. I’m free.” “I don’t have to go now!” “I don’t have a reason anymore. The reason was my parent.” And when they go back for vacation to their parent’s house, then they go back to Jumuah again And then they go back to college and they’re free again, isn’t it?
You know why this happens? Because we did not teach our children how to think about Islaam for themselves Why are they Muslim? Why must they accept Allah? Why must they accept to Qur’an? Why must they ask intelligent questions?
Our religion is not a religion where you just accept with your eyes closed “We just follow it.” No! Ibrahim alaihissalam didn’t even just ask people. Look at the legacy of Ibrahim alaihissalam He even asked Allah, (Al Baqarah, 260) “Master show me how do you give life to the dead?” “How do you do that?” He even asked Allah… And Allah asked him, “Didn’t you already have iman?” “Didn’t you already believe?” “No, that’s because I want to satisfy my heart” Allah is teaching us through the legacy of Ibrahim alaihissalam that we should ask questions until we satisfy our heart Until the heart is at peace.
You must explore. you must think and we must inculcate thinking into our children Unfortunately today even religious education, Islamic education is not about thinking anymore “Memorize these surahs, learn how to make wudu, here’s the time to make salah.” Done! “Your tajweed is good.” Done! Kids memorize the Qur’an that means he’s already got a ticket to Jannah Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.
This child has memorized Quran He’s reciting Quran, but not for one day did he think about a single ayah of the Qur’an? How can that be? How can be in the religion? He’s reciting, “Afala ta’qilun?” He’s reciting, “Why don’t you think?” and he never thinks.
You see the irony in that? You know This kid is leading Taraweeh, we are celebrating this child has memorized the Qur’an He’s leading the prayer, and he’s reciting the example of those who when they hear the call of Allah It’s like either hearing just the calls of animals. It doesn’t make any sense to them And he’s reciting it and he doesn’t understand it. This is a tragedy!
This is a absolute tragedy in this Ummah And it has to be undone and this generation will have to undo it, because wallahi al azeem You know what is attracting people towards atheism? What’s attracting people away from religion? “I believe in science. I don’t believe in God” There’s all these people now. Why? Because they say, “Well science, you get to think.” “In philosophy you get to think.” “In atheism you get to think.” “Well religions don’t want you to think.” Maybe other religions don’t want you to think but Our religion is based and rooted in thinking.
How To Come Closer To Allah in Ramadan
For Muslims all over the world when we think of Ramadan, the first thing we think about is, fasting the first thought that comes in my head as we think of tonight work that tomorrow night we’re going to pray taraweeh that means the day after that is going to be a very long day, and I’m going to be very hungry and thirsty, so we start thinking about food and drink immediately, but it’s incredible that in the Quran when Allah introduced us to the month of Ramadan he did not introduce the month of Ramadan with fasting, he did not introduce us to this month with “Soum”. he said: The month of Ramadan is, in fact, the one in which the Quran was sent down. in other words the first thing you and I have to think about when we think of Ramadan is the Quran, we muslims the ones who are knowledgeable and the ones who are not knowledgeable, the Ulama and the the common people among the muslims all of us know that ramadan is a time to get closer to Allah, all of us know Ramadan is a time to make extra Du’aas, all of us know Ramadan is a time to give up a lot of sins to make Istighfar, to go to the Masjid more than usual, a lot of people who normally don’t go to the Masjid they start coming to the Masjid in the month of Ramadan, so even if you don’t know a lot about Islam you still know that this month you have to do a little extra for Allah, every Muslim feels this but it’s incredible that in the Quran Allah SWT gave us the key on how to get closer to him in this month and that key is the Quran itself. It is the Book of Allah, so if you really really want to get close to Allah SWT, if you really want to fulfill the purpose of Ramadan for yourself and I for myself, then the month of Ramadan has to be about the Quran, it has to be about the Quran for you and for me, and we have to treat it as though we’ve never had a relationship with the Quran before. you’re starting all over again, you know even though I’m not going to talk to you in detail about those Ayahs from Al Baqarah it’s incredible that it’s a Madani surah which means the Muslims have been Muslim for a long time, the Sahaba (Companions of holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH) have been Muslim for a long time and they know about the Quran and the Akhira (hereafter) and they know about these things, yet in the ayah of Al baqara, when Allah introduced us to Ramadan he decided also to introduce us to the Quran.
Again he did not just introduce to Ramadan ,he also introduced us to the Quran, it is guidance for people the Quran is guidance for people and the Muslims already knew that it is guidance for people, did we already know that when the ayah came down we did we had known then since somebody said Shahada they knew that the Quran is guidance for humanity yet Allah Azza WA JAL in the month of Ramadan when he introduced us to the Quran said almost as though you have to start all over again, so you and I have to start reading the Quran and studying the Quran and reflecting and thinking about the Quran, in this month like we have never read it before, like it’s the first time.
Do I Focus on Memorization or Understanding Quran
Here is a cool question asked by Muslims; I read the Quran but I don’t understand Arabic, so I don’t get anything out of reading the Quran. should not I just be reading in English?
and then these people tell you, you have to memorize the Quran, there is so much reward from memorizing the Quran, and there’s so many Huffaz out there that memorize the Quran. I don’t even understand what it means? Shouldn’t we be telling people to read the Quran instead of memorizing it?
You know what as we heard this question we realized something, to every action there’s an equal but opposite reaction. We have an extreme in this community, we have on the one hand people that want to emphasize the memorization of the Quran and not emphasize understanding Quran at all, that you just become a trophy once you memorize Quran and you are going to lead Taraweeh, and you’re going to be reciting beautifully, and people are going to be saying what an awesome Tajweed and Qira’at you have and you have no concept of what’s being said. that is one extreme and that extreme gives birth to the other extreme, that says: you know what these people? they’re just reciting Quran for no purpose, and they’re just making beautiful sounds but what’s the actual message, we should forget about memorization we should focus all of our energies on reading Quran and understanding. These are two extremes, the truth usually in these kinds of things, lies somewhere in the middle, and for so many questions people ask we realize more and more and more that they’re actually a reaction to another extreme that makes them want to justify the opposite extreme, and not consider the answer lies in the middle.
The answer is at the end of the day memorizing Quran is one of the most spiritually enriching and powerful acts that we can do, memorizing the Quran is actually fulfilling the legacy of the Prophet himself sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, one of the most beautiful verses Surah Al-Ankaboot describes that the ayat of the Quran live in the chests of those who believe, the ayah don’t live on pieces of paper, the Ayatullah live inside of Mushaf, the place the ayat are stored in this world are inside the chests of believers. It’s an amazing thing to say and so I want more and more of those of ayahs in my chest, I want to memorize as much of them as I can, that’s something that you should struggle with, and want for yourself. why wouldn’t you want to memorize Quran if your parents are going to be raised with crowns on their head on Judgment Day? On one hand we should be memorizing the Quran and on the other hand, the Quran complains itself “Don’t they reflect deeply on the Quran or their hearts made up locked up? so reflection on the Quran and memorizing Quran are actually hand-in-hand and let me add one more thing, this is the balance of our religion, this is where things really get so epic, these two things are not mutually exclusive, when I memorize Quran I’m repeating the same ayah yes or no? over and over. I’m repeating the same ayah and the more repeating it, the more I’m thinking about it, and the more I’m thinking about it, more realizations come to my head, reflection is actually facilitated by the act of memorization, that how it’s facilitated. then you recite Quran with Tajweed and you what Tajweed does is that you give every letter it’s due, and you pause, and you take your time with every single word which means it slows you down. Doesn’t it? Tajweed slows you down and when it slows you down your mind is not just pronouncing every word like you should, it’s giving your mind the opportunity to think about every word instead of rushing through the whole thing, and not giving each word or letting each word have its effect on you, even the science of Tajweed actually full fulfills the purpose of thinking and reflecting on the Quran, that’s what it’s there for.
This stuff is so interconnected, what we have done is we have ripped it apart, “I just want to read English transition” or “I just want to learn Tajweed and not reflect. SubanAllah. These are the things that Allah commands to keep or meant to keep together, and we keep them putting them apart.
So the answer really lies at the end of the day in balance, when you have one extreme it will certainly lead to the other extreme and may Allah SWT keep us from extremes and truly allow us to be the middle of Ummah.
Motivations for Quran Memorization
the term Hafiz / Hafidh in our language refers to a person who has memorized the whole Quran, either in our terminology we say this one is a hafidh, that means this person has memorized the Quran but the word “Hafiza” (root word) actually means to protect to safeguard, what have you safeguarded? many people would say: well, they have safeguarded the Quran in their hearts or they have protected the Quran by learning it, such that you can take the book away but they will be able to recite the words of the Quran.
Allah is telling you something very interesting to let you look at it from a different angle, listen to what he says in Quran: “We have revealed this Quran we will definitely protect it. that’s what Allah says, we will make sure it remains intact.
Now let’s go back to what I was saying moments ago if Allah promises you that he is going to protect the Quran, when you make an effort to memorize it, Allah will look after you, because the Quran is in your heart, so if you want to save yourself from calamities in this world and the next then your best bet also is to memorize the Quran, when you are memorizing the Quran you’re moving you have Allah’s word inside you and you are moving around, there is a special care unit, VIP protection for you, because you know what, you have the Quran in your heart you are not just an ordinary person, this is why Allah says we will look after the Quran if you have made an effort to memorize it you automatically fall into this bliss.
Many people when they read the verse they think oh that means to protect the Quran from any change, yes that’s true, but how? In so many different ways including “Us memorizing it”.
It’s a gift of Allah no book even the one you have written yourself is memorizable by you, Allahu akbar, besides the Quran everyone knows that and this is why Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala tells us I will protect it.
My brothers and sisters aren’t this encouragement enough for us to make an effort to memorize the words of Allah?
Start off somewhere. You know people look and they look at you and they start saying; I’m old now, I’m old, if I was younger then maybe I would’ve memorized it.
My brothers and sisters let me give you some motivation the Sahaba of the Allah and the bulk of them who memorized the Quran were beyond the age of 40, they were all old people, they were not young children, they were not kids in their teenage the majority of them were older than that and they memorized the Quran, but there was dedication they never gave up, they knew you want to do something you will do it, no matter how old you are.
My brothers and sisters, let’s start with one verse a day in sha Allah, one verse a day. May Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala grant us that, I really hope we can follow that through. It’s not so difficult, in fact, you can start off by memorizing the short surahs, and I promise you something interesting that the hadith of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, he says: indeed every action or actions shall be judged by their underlying intentions. Every action will be judged by the intention so if I had an intention of completing the whole Quran and I was dedicated and I actually started one verse at a time and I did not finish I died before I completed it, what’s the deed that will be written next to my name? A person who has memorized the whole Quran, why? Because that was my intention, I didn’t manage to finish it, Subhan Allah.
You are walking towards the Masjid suddenly you die, what happened? you will be written as one who has gone to the Masjid because that was your intention that is how Allah judges, that is the gift of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala so this is why my brothers and sisters if you dedicate yourself, you have every day a small portion very small, still for as long as there is consistency you have saved yourself. May Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala have mercy on us so that we can achieve that.
How to Memorize Quran and Never Forget it
Have you been trying to memorize Quran but after a couple of month or year you just don’t remember anything?
Or you can even remember what you have memorized the part of the Quran last week and you don’t remember it anymore?
Don’t worry, it is not YOU
Well, We say No worries, it is not just you, it is the method that you are following, it is not working.
You need to make some changes and things will be way much different, we promise you will start remembering what you memorize if you follow the method.
How To Memorize Quran and never forget it
In this article you will get know how to memorize Quran and never forget it, inshaAllah we will give you a helpful Quran memorization plan, which is compatible with, either you memorize Quran with a teacher or you want to memorize Quran by yourself.
Quran memorization is a great gift from Allah SWT, and the person who gets this reward from Allah SWT has to keep it in his/her memory forever, it is like sand in your hand, if you hold it strong it stays in your hand and if you let it go your hands will become empty, or as narrated in hadith that the hafidh of Quran is like owner of hobbled camel, so if you try to revise memorized quran you can keep it in your memory and when you let it go by not revising it you will forget it easily.
Follow Quran Memorization Method
You divide your memorization into 3 parts:
Sabaq: also known as new lesson, you memorize it ayah by ayah, read an ayah as many times as you want and then try to recite without looking at Quran and see if you’re successful, then move on to next ayah and repeat the same process for memorization of the next ayah, now if you have memorized the next ayah successfully then don’t move to the third ayah unless you are able to recite two ayah without looking fluently. In this way, you can memorize your new lesson.
Sabaq Dour: this is the current Juz or Para that you’re memorizing or also it can be last ten lessons that you’ve memorized in last ten days, This portion is very important if you don’t revise it daily you can easily forget and you will have start all over again.
Dour: also known as Manzil, these are previous Juzes that you’ve memorized so far. This helps you to keep Quran in your long-term memory, and it is even more important than first two parts. This is how you revise memorized Quran, just recite at least one complete Juz per day.
According to experts, Quran memorization is not hard you can memorize Quran online in 1 year or 6 months and you can also memorize Quran by yourself, but the hard thing that requires more sturggle and effort is memorizing quran and never forgetting it, and the sad thing about this is, that many Muslims brothers and sisters don’t realize that and they memorize holy Quran first time with passion and love but after few years of Quran memorization they don’t revise Quran because they so busy and can’t make any quran memorization plan for revising it to keep Quran in their memory.
Reasons why usually People Forget Memorized Quran:
1. You have started not revising Quran at all, it could be because you get so busy in your life for example high school, college, university or full-time job and you get married and can’t spare time to schedule Quran revision.
2. Another major reason that is often ignored by many people is getting involved some kind of bad activity, where you commit major sins and you start getting involved more and more, remember this Quran is Allah SWT word and it is Noor (Light) and to put this Pure you are going to make your heart pure, and your heart is full darkness then Quran will not stay in your heart any longer.
3. According to Islamic scholars if your earning is not halal, it affects your soul and makes it sick and weaker, and when you have less spiritual powers you can’t taste any worship and in the result, every worship including Salah, Quran, etc seems very boring and you don’t feel like to do it.
4. Your memory works differently or in another way you have a bad memory you can remember things for a long term.
5. Procrastinations: the biggest reason for forgetting Quran when you have memorized it is when you start being lazy revising it. A successful hafiz will never seek comfort, and if you want to be successful then you have to say No any comfort that comes in the way between you and memorizing Quran.
6. Always remember that revising is more important than new memorization.
Solution: How to Memorize Quran and never Forget it:
Set some goals when you start Quran memorization, without setting goals it going to get harder and unclear and there will be more chances of you giving up, set a goal, for example, you will memorize 10 pages in 20 days or something like that, and when you achieve your goal then admire yourself and be thankful to Allah SWT.
Try to stay away from any major or minor sins because now you’re trying to and inshaAllah going to become a protector of Quran, so you are an ordinary person anymore, you have more responsibilities now.
When you Pray Salah try to recite new Surah or page in every Raka’ah in that way you can revise memorized part of Quran without sparing lots of time.
Try to eat halal, drink halal and even don’t watch or see anything haram and stay away from the absurd talk.